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The Oxford English Dictionary, Volume 1-20, (20 Volume Set) - Hardcover

 
9780198611868: The Oxford English Dictionary, Volume 1-20, (20 Volume Set)
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Originally published in fascicles starting in 1884 and completed in 1928, subsequently revised, expanded to 20 volumes, and adapted to the electronic age, the "OED has become the most venerated English language reference ever compiled. For those who use and love the language most intensely, the "OED has no peer. With more than 22,000 pages of definitions, nearly 2.5 illustrative quotations from writers as disparate as Geoffrey Chaucer and Erica Jong, William Shakespeare and Raymond Chandler, Charles Darwin and Quentin Tarantino, the OED is a dictionary like no other. Its entries offer the most authoritative definitions, detailed information on pronunciation, variant spellings throughout each word's history, extensive treatment of etymology, and details of area of usage and of any regional characteristics (including geographical origins). It is, as "Time observed, "a scholarly Everest."

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Review:
The Oxford English Dictionary has long been considered the ultimate reference work in English lexicography. Compiled by the legendary editor James Murray and a staff of brilliant philologists and lexicographers (not to mention one homicidal maniac), the OED began as a a supplement to existing dictionaries, so that, as one lexicographer put it, "every word should be made to tell its own story." Enthusiastic readers sent Murray definitions and examples on identical slips of paper in response to a letter of appeal in 1879. By the time the last volume was published in 1928, the dictionary had swelled from 4 to 10 volumes containing over 400,000 entries. In the years since, the staff of the OED has continued to keep pace with our ever-evolving language, and today the dictionary weighs in at a whopping 20 volumes. The great joy of this dictionary lies in its extensive cross-references and word etymologies, which can run a full page or more. These features not only make the OED the most comprehensive and authoritative dictionary of the English language, but a delight to browse.

What writers like most about the Oxford English Dictionary

"I’m tempted to say that I love the OED because it contains every word in Middlemarch and To the Lighthouse, minus the unnecessary ones. I suspect, however, that that’s probably a familiar joke in dictionary circles."--Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours
"The Oxford English Dictionary lets me follow the roots of words into the loamy depths of language. It lets me feel the abiding, generative life in it, the mysteries of its persistence and renewal."--Marilynne Robinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Home
"The OED is one of my favorite ways of avoiding writing, which under other circumstances can be tortuous. But not with the OED. To begin, I look up a word. Then I get interested in its derivation, which suggests another word, another derivation, another word--Wow!"--Jeanne Marie Laskas, author of The Exact Same Moon
About the Author:

J. A. Simpson worked on the Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary and prepared the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, which was published in 1982. E. S. C. Weiner also served on the editorial staff of the Supplement and compiled the Oxford Guide to English Usage, which was published in 1983.

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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. The 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. The OED has a unique historical focus. Accompanying each definition is a chronologically arranged group of quotations that trace the usage of words, and show the contexts in which they can be used. The quotations are drawn from a huge variety of international sources - literary, scholarly, technical, popular - and represent authors as disparate as Geoffrey Chaucer and Erica Jong, William Shakespeare and Raymond Chandler, Charles Darwin and John Le Carre. In all, nearly 2.5 million quotations can be found in the OED. Other features distinguishing the entries in the Dictionary are authoritative definitions of over 500,000 words; detailed information on pronunciation using the International Phonetic Alphabet; listings of variant spellings used throughout each word's history; extensive treatment of etymology; and details of area of usage and of any regional characteristics (including geographical origins). The ultimate authority on the usage and meaning of English words and phrases, unparalleled in its accuracy and comprehensiveness, The Oxford English Dictionary is the supreme reference work for anyone who loves the language. Now, this greatest of all dictionaries appears in a new Second Editionthe first up-to-date coverage of words and meanings in one alphabetical sequence since the original dictionary was published in 1928. The result of an enormously ambitious, on-going project to computerize the dictionary, the Second Edition integrates the original OED with the four volumes of the Supplement. Published between 1972 and 1986, this Supplement was produced to bring the Dictionary up to date, to extend its coverage to the language of the mid-20th century, and to reflect the ever-broadening international nature of the English. In addition to merging the original OED and the Supplement, which greatly enhances the convenience of using the Dictionary, the Second Edition includes some 5,000 new words and meaningsfrom perestroika to yuppificationwhich have entered the language quite recently. It has also been completely redesigned and reset to enhance its legibility: the typeface is more open, the headwords stand out more clearly, and the paper used is brighter, with greater opacity. Still another new feature is the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet to represent pronunciation, replacing the system devised by Sir James Murray, the first editor of the OED. By employing what is now the universally accepted standard guide to pronunciation, the Second Edition greatly extends the usefulness of this vital feature. The key feature of the OED, of course, remainsintact: its unique historical focus. Accompanying each definition is a chronologically arranged group of quotations that illustrate the evolution of meaning from the word's first recorded usage and show the contexts in which it can be used. The quotations are drawn from a huge variety of sourcesliterary, scholarly, technical, popularand represent authors as disparate as Geoffrey Chaucer and Erica Jong, William Shakespeare and Raymond Chandler, Charles Darwin and John Le Carre. In all, nearly 2.5 million quotationsillustrating over a half-million wordscan be found in the OED. Other features distinguishing the entries in the dictionary are the most authoritative definitions, detailed information on pronunciation, variant spellings throughout each word's history, extensive treatment of etymology, and details of area of usage and of any regional characteristics (including geographical origins). A dictionary like no other in the world, the OED has been described as "among the wonders of the wo Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780198611868

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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. Hardcover. The 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. The OED has a unique historical focus. Accompanying each definition is a chronologically arranged group of quotations that trace the usage of words, and show the contexts in which they can be used. The quotations are drawn from a huge variety of international sources - literary, scholarly, technical, popular - and represent authors as disparate as Geoffrey Chaucer and Erica Jong, William Shakespeare and Raymond Chandler, Charles Darwin and John Le Carre. In all, nearly 2.5 million quotations can be found in the OED. Other features distinguishing the entries in the Dictionary are authoritative definitions of over 500,000 words; detailed information on pronunciation using the International Phonetic Alphabet; listings of variant spellings used throughout each word's history; extensive treatment of etymology; and details of area of usage and of any regional characteristics (including geographical origins). The ultimate authority on the usage and meaning of English words and phrases, unparalleled in its accuracy and comprehensiveness, The Oxford English Dictionary is the supreme reference work for anyone who loves the language. Now, this greatest of all dictionaries appears in a new Second Editionthe first up-to-date coverage of words and meanings in one alphabetical sequence since the original dictionary was published in 1928. The result of an enormously ambitious, on-going project to computerize the dictionary, the Second Edition integrates the original OED with the four volumes of the Supplement. Published between 1972 and 1986, this Supplement was produced to bring the Dictionary up to date, to extend its coverage to the language of the mid-20th century, and to reflect the ever-broadening international nature of the English. In addition to merging the original OED and the Supplement, which greatly enhances the convenience of using the Dictionary, the Second Edition includes some 5,000 new words and meaningsfrom perestroika to yuppificationwhich have entered the language quite recently. It has also been completely redesigned and reset to enhance its legibility: the typeface is more open, the headwords stand out more clearly, and the paper used is brighter, with greater opacity. Still another new feature is the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet to represent pronunciation, replacing the system devised by Sir James Murray, the first editor of the OED. By employing what is now the universally accepted standard guide to pronunciation, the Second Edition greatly extends the usefulness of this vital feature. The key feature of the OED, of course, remainsintact: its unique historical focus. Accompanying each definition is a chronologically arranged group of quotations that illustrate the evolution of meaning from the word's first recorded usage and show the contexts in which it can be used. The quotations are drawn from a huge variety of sourcesliterary, scholarly, technical, popularand represent authors as disparate as Geoffrey Chaucer and Erica Jong, William Shakespeare and Raymond Chandler, Charles Darwin and John Le Carre. In all, nearly 2.5 million quotationsillustrating over a half-million wordscan be found in the OED. Other features distinguishing the entries in the dictionary are the most authoritative definitions, detailed information on pronunciation, variant spellings throughout each word's history, extensive treatment of etymology, and details of area of usage and of any regional characteristics (including geographical origins). A dictionary like no other in the world, the OED has been described as "among the wond Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780198611868

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